Common mistakes during Resume Writing "A"

Recruiters spend their day receiving and reading CVs. They do not have 30 minutes to spend on each one. If your resume is too long, it will discourage them and chances are that they won’t read it until the end. This is a real stylistic exercise as you need to communicate all the important information but very concisely.
Bullet points are definitely the best way to achieve this result. Write short sentences and go straight to the point. Explain concisely what you did and the results you got. Do not go into details and do not write more than 3 pages.
Some people will find it frustrating but the company needs to know if you fit the profile before spending time getting to know you. A CV is a quick snapshot of you. If they like what they read, they will call you for an interview where you will have more time to develop your experience and talk about yourself. 

Too many skills in the expertise section

If you put too many skills and knowledge in this section, the recruiter won’t remember any of them and the ones that matter will be lost in a mass. Tailor your resume to each job offer by selecting the most relevant skills for the role. Do not hesitate to organise them by groups if it can be done. It will look more organised and will be easier to read.

 Resume not targeted to the role

Your CV needs to be adjusted to the position you apply for. You have to show to the recruiter that you are the perfect candidate and to do so, s/he has to find relevant information in your resume. You might not need to go through all of your previous experiences. Just pick the ones that are pertinent to the job offer. For instance, for a marketing role in a pharmaceutical company you’ll emphasize on your internship in a pharmaceutical company while for a role for a baby brand, you’ll describe your first professional experience as a marketing assistant in a company selling products for kids 

No analysis of the work done

A professional resume is a resume where the results obtained for each experience are explained. The recruiter doesn’t only want to know the tasks you carried on but also what you achieved. This will show how competent you are and if the goals you reached are similar to the ones the company has.
For each previous experience, list the responsibilities you had to handle and the outcomes of your missions. You have to demonstrate what you brought to each of your previous employers and why the recruiter should call you in for an interview.

 Grammatical and spelling mistakes

This doesn’t make good impression. Ask friends to read your CV to make sure there aren’t any mistakes and ask at least 2 people to do so. This is something that can be easily avoided. If your CV is not written in your native language, ask a native speaker to correct it before sending it to any recruiter.

 Inconsistent layout

A CV has to be clear and easy to read. Spend some time making sure everything is aligned and paragraphs have the same font and size. A messy resume will give the impression that you are not organised and do not pay attention to details.

Typos and grammatical errors

Your resume needs to be grammatically perfect. If it isn't, employers will read between the lines and draw not-so-flattering conclusions about you, like: "This person can't write," or "This person obviously doesn't care."

Lack of specifics

Employers need to understand what you've done and accomplished. For example:

A. Worked with employees in a restaurant setting.
B. Recruited, hired, trained and supervised more than 20 employees in a restaurant with $2 million in annual sales.

Both of these phrases could describe the same person, but the details and specifics in example B will more likely grab an employer's attention.

Attempting the "One–size–fits–all" approach

Whenever you try to develop a one-size-fits-all resume to send to all employers, you almost always end up with something employers will toss in the recycle bin. Employers want you to write a resume specifically for them. They expect you to clearly show how and why you fit the position in a specific organization.

Highlighting duties instead of accomplishments

It's easy to slip into a mode where you simply start listing job duties on your resume. For example:

• Attended group meetings and recorded minutes;
• Worked with children in a day-care setting;
• Updated departmental files.

Employers, however, don't care so much about what you've done as what you've accomplished in your various activities. They're looking for statements more like these:

• Used laptop computer to record weekly meeting minutes and compiled them in a Microsoft Word-based file for future organizational reference.
• Developed three daily activities for preschool-age children and prepared them for a 10-minute holiday program performance.
• Reorganized 10 years worth of unwieldy files, making them easily accessible to department members.

Going on too long or cutting things too short

Despite what you may read or hear, there are no real rules governing resume length. Why? Because human beings, who have different preferences and expectations where resumes are concerned, will be reading it.

That doesn't mean you should start sending out five-page resumes, of course. Generally speaking, you usually need to limit yourself to a maximum of two pages. But don't feel you have to use two pages if one will do. Conversely, don't cut the meat out of your resume simply to make it conform to an arbitrary one-page standard.

A bad objective

Employers do read your resume objective, but too often they plow through vague pufferies like, "Seeking a challenging position that offers professional growth." Give employers something specific and, more importantly, something that focuses on their needs as well as your own. Example: "A challenging entry-level marketing position that allows me to contribute my skills and experience in fund-raising for nonprofits."

No action verbs

Avoid using phrases like "responsible for." Instead, use action verbs: "Resolved user questions as part of an IT help desk serving 4,000 students and staff."

Leaving off important information

You may be tempted, for example, to eliminate mention of the jobs you've taken to earn extra money for school. Typically, however, the soft skills you've gained from these experiences (e.g., work ethic, time management) are more important to employers than you might think.

Visually too busy

If your resume is wall-to-wall text featuring five different fonts, it will most likely give the employer a headache. So show your resume to several other people before sending it out. Do they find it visually attractive? If what you have is hard on the eyes, revise.

Incorrect contact information

I once worked with a student whose resume seemed incredibly strong, but he wasn't getting any bites from employers. So one day, I jokingly asked him if the phone number he'd listed on his resume was correct. It wasn't. Once he changed it, he started getting the calls he'd been expecting. Moral of the story: Double-check even the most minute, taken-for-granted details -- sooner rather than later.

.